For the Love of Fruit 

Winding through farmers’ crates, the ladies seem torn 
from The Goblin Market, an army of feverish Lauras
 
Dozens of eyelids, fingertips and nostrils agitated 
testing hapless vegetables and fruit, like suitors
 
Pressing them, intently, for tenderness and endurance 
bringing one close, pupils dilated, and inhaling profoundly 
 
Rousing one woman, cheeks flushed, from her fructose trance 
I clear my throat, and ask: So, what’s the fragrance test?
 
‘Ah, it’s to find out if it smells like itself... 
otherwise, it will be bland,’ she sweetly smiles.

Yahia Lababidi (@YahiaLababidi), Lebanese-Egyptian-American, is the author of nine books of poetry and prose. His most recent work is a collection of essays and conversations, Revolutions of the Heart: Literary, Cultural, and Spiritual (2020) with a forthcoming volume, Learning to Pray, due from Kelsay Books, at the end of 2021.